Do you do this? (announce amount of change to cashier)

[stui_magpie]

@cochrane

Again, if handing money at a drive-thru, the cashier can hold the coins securely in the cup of their hand without dropping it. If you hand the bills over, then the change on top, the coins slide off the bills and the cashier drops them all over the ground. I imagine polymer bills are even slicker than paper. I’ve had this happen to me more often than I can count. So, if you’re in a drive-thru, please hand over the coins first. Or if you hand the bills first and allow the cashier to get them inside, then hand the coins over separately, that’s OK, too. But don’t hand over the coins on top of the bills all in one handful.

I seldom use drive thru’s and when I do it’s a note or card. The times when I pay cash and use coins is when I’m standing up at the cashier in a shop where I can actually get fingers into a coin pocket.

[Ranger_Jeff]

My dad bought a store when I was 9. I was working the register by the time I was 10. I was taught when ringing someone up, put the bills they gave me on the ledge above the cash drawer until the entire transaction is completed. I still remember the time some woman gave me a $10 and I counted out her change and gave it to her. Then she said “I paid with a twenty!” and I just reached over and lifted up that 10 with my index and middle finger and held it up and said. “No, ma’am. You paid with this 10.”

[Bozuit]

@Kimballkid

As a cashier, it kind of annoys me when people do it but, in the grand scheme, it’s not a big deal.

Really? I do it for reasons mostly given in this thread:

1. The cashier and I both know that we both know how much I’m paying, so we can avoid any disagreements once it’s all in the till.
2. The cashier knows I know how much money I’m giving, so there’s no confusion when they ask for £9.39 and get not just a 10 but some coins as well. When I don’t announce, I’ve had cashiers just assume I’m an idiot.
3. It saves time - the cashier can either count the coins or trust me, but now they have the choice, rather than having to assume I’ve just given them a handful of random coins, as some (mostly foreign or very old) people do.

From the perspective of a cashier, are those not as helpful as I assume?

[Melbourne]

@kittenblue

It is my understanding (from my kids who have worked fast food) that some chains INSIST on bills first, then coins, but they can’t remember the convoluted reasoning behind it…

They MUST be training their kids to do it that way, otherwise they wouldn’t all be doing it that way.

My original theory was that they did it to please women: slide the coins into your purse, then put the folding money away. Rather than pleasing men: fold the bills into your wallet, then stuff the change into your pocket.

But over time, I’ve become increasing attracted to an alternate theory: the owners and the customers of fast food joints are so stupid that they don’t realise how much easier it is with the coins underneath.
I annouce large-denomination bills. I’ve got enough trouble just getting the change right: I don’t want to create arguments and confusion by announcing the wrong number.

[Sir_T-Cups]

Another cashier chiming in:

I like it when people do it because I don’t have think about the change I put in the drawer I just drop it in there and call it a day.

and it’s ESPECIALLY helpful when it’s not exact change, but one of those “Here is part of it, or a little bit more so I can get an even .30 back” type of deals that involves me doing math.

[Kimballkid]

@Bozuit

Really? I do it for reasons mostly given in this thread:

1. The cashier and I both know that we both know how much I’m paying, so we can avoid any disagreements once it’s all in the till.
2. The cashier knows I know how much money I’m giving, so there’s no confusion when they ask for £9.39 and get not just a 10 but some coins as well. When I don’t announce, I’ve had cashiers just assume I’m an idiot.

That’s why the cashier should not be putting anything in the till until the transaction is complete and the customer is satisfied.

3. It saves time - the cashier can either count the coins or trust me, but now they have the choice, rather than having to assume I’ve just given them a handful of random coins, as some (mostly foreign or very old) people do.

The cashier should be counting it anyway. Sometimes the customer doesn’t count it correctly.

From the perspective of a cashier, are those not as helpful as I assume?

Like I said it’s not a big deal, I’m going to continue to do my own thing with it anyway which includes the two things I pointed out above.

[Kimballkid]

@Sir_T-Cups

Another cashier chiming in:

I like it when people do it because I don’t have think about the change I put in the drawer I just drop it in there and call it a day.

and it’s ESPECIALLY helpful when it’s not exact change, but one of those “Here is part of it, or a little bit more so I can get an even .30 back” type of deals that involves me doing math.

So you trust the customer to always give you the right change. In my experience, customers haven’t always been correct about what they are giving me.

[jharvey963]

Here’s how it works for me: The cashier says “that’ll be $13.68”.

Me: Ok, here’s a 20, but let me check for change first. (get the change out of my pocket and try to get the correct change.)

Then it’s either “Nope, I don’t have it”, or “Here’s 3 cents (or 18 cents)” or “Ok, I think that’s 68. Check to see if I got it right”.

Works for me, and I’ve never had a complaint.

J.